Sunday, January 20, 2008

Comments Policy

I've been wondering whether I should stick a comments policy on the sidebar. I like receiving comments, but I've had an upsurge of off-topic and unpleasant comments that I've deleted recently. I don't like deleting comment, but I like to keep the tone friendly and light-hearted around here. Anyway, en lieu of a formal policy, here are a few principles that should make things clearer:

1. Debate is good, but keep it on-topic. If you're going to say something irrelevant to the topic at hand, then it had better be something that'll make me smile. In particular, you may have a grievance (legitimate or otherwise) with the Pope, the hierarchy, your pastor or maybe even the Church as a whole - I'll only allow you to air it in this forum if you do so politely, rationally and when it's relevant to something I've posted.

2. It's okay to disagree with me and other commenter, but be polite. We probably have a lot to learn from you, but if you're rude or aggressive then you'll probably end up being deleted. I'd rather things were kept friendly and polite. I don't have the time or inclination to referee boxing matches.